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Tesla 'Dog Mode' Will Stop Pets From Overheating In Cars, Elon Musk Says (nzherald.co.nz)

Tesla CEO Elon Musk said his fleet of electric vehicles will be getting a "dog mode" to protect pets from overheating. The feature, which will be rolled out next week, will be able to detect when a pet is locked inside the car -- and keep the temperature at a safe level. The New Zealand Herald reports: There will also likely be a display or some form of communication to inform passers-by that the dog is safe. The feature was added after Musk was inundated with tweets from customers. In October, one Tesla driver asked him: "Can you put a dog mode on the Tesla Model 3. "Where the music plays and the air conditioning is on, with a display on screen saying 'I'm fine my owner will be right back?'" Musk replied: "Yes."

'Dog mode' will likely be an extension of Tesla's Cabin Overheat Protection System. This already prevents temperatures inside the car from reaching unsafe levels when kids or pets are inside. But the screen in Tesla models is likely to now flash a message to pedestrians informing them that the pet inside is safe. The "dog mode" update will be launched at the same time as a "sentry mode" -- designed to ward off would-be thieves. Sentry Mode will use the dashcam to record footage in the event of an attempted break-in. And it is rumored the car will play loud classical music through the stereo system to draw attention to the intruder and encourage passersby to call the police.

23 of 137 comments (clear)

  1. Re:You are the dog. by b0s0z0ku · · Score: 2

    That's unkind to dogs... more like "sheep" or "lemming." For the record, I love the idea of electric cars, it's just that Tesla's surveillance-heavy, repair-unfriendly implementation sucks.

  2. Re:Rei by drinkypoo · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I know Elon Musk is your personal hero and savior, but to the rest of us he is a scummy salesguy.

    Speak for yourself. I'm not in love with him like Rei, but I also respect what he's managed to accomplish, and where he's choosing to spend his money. I want EVs to succeed, and he's helped that. I want space to be developed more, and he's furthering that.

    --
    "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
  3. Re:You are the dog. by PPH · · Score: 2

    you are the dog, at the whim of some billionaire psychopath.

    Hey Elon! I just pooped. Grab a plastic bag and get that.

    --
    Have gnu, will travel.
  4. Re:Rei by b0s0z0ku · · Score: 2

    I want EVs to succeed, but I also think his control-freak business model and unfriendliness to right-to-repair makes him a shitty human being.

  5. Thanks, NZ Herald by viperidaenz · · Score: 2

    For the article about a car you can't buy in New Zealand.
    Tesla will take a reservation payment though, with no promise of delivery or any indication of timing, with no use-of-money interest and effectively a promise that if the company fails, you won't get your money back.

  6. Re:Rei by drinkypoo · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Accomplished? Other than coasting on other people's work, what has he actually managed to accomplish? In this case, Tesla was already founded when he attached himself to it, and the company itself would be doing far better without him.

    1) I notice you didn't mention SpaceX, since that would completely destroy your argument.
    2) Tesla is a cult of Musk. Everyone but you understands that Tesla would not be doing better without him.

    Those stupid Hyperloops that he's been pushing, are completely by other people now, he doesn't have any involvement.

    So what you're saying is that he catalyzed next-generation transportation? Thanks for agreeing with me.

    --
    "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
  7. You know what this reminds me of? by slashmydots · · Score: 2

    Remember the stories of the self driving cars where people sent their dogs to go get drive through fast food. They trained them to pick up the money in their mouth and hand it over to the person in the window. Epic.

  8. Re:Babies by ShanghaiBill · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Is it dog only, or will it work with a baby?

    According to TFA, there is a sensor to detect if a dog is in the car. It isn't clear if it would also detect a baby. But dogs and babies should have similar sensor profiles, so you should be fine. So, sure, feel free to leave your baby in the hot car. What could go wrong?

    If you can't afford a Tesla, here is a low tech trick to avoid killing your baby: When you put the kid in the carseat, put your wallet & cellphone on the floor next to the baby. Then when you get where you are going and reach into your pocket for your cellphone to check your Facebook status, the phone is NOT THERE! Then you remember that you left your baby in the car. Broiled infant brain avoided!

  9. Re:Rei by Ecuador · · Score: 4, Informative

    Eh, I think you have to separate the two.

    Rei has overdone it, we really don't need any more Tesla news. And we really really really don't need any more Tesla non-news like this one.

    Elon Musk on the other hand single-handedly started the switch-over to electrical vehicles and is leading space launch technology. He is neither "scummy" nor a "salesguy". With all his flaws (stay away from Twitter, dude - no, it's not OK even if the President tweets much worse), he makes a difference, the world would be better off with a few more Elon Musks.

    --
    Violence is the last refuge of the incompetent. Polar Scope Align for iOS
  10. Ruh-roh! by PopeRatzo · · Score: 3, Funny

    "Can you put a dog mode on the Tesla Model 3. "Where the music plays and the air conditioning is on, with a display on screen saying 'I'm fine my owner will be right back?'"

    That's just silly. Everyone knows dogs can't read.

    --
    You are welcome on my lawn.
    1. Re:Ruh-roh! by blindseer · · Score: 3, Informative

      How do you know? On the internet nobody knows if there's a dog posting to Slashdot.

      --
      I am armed because I am free. I am free because I am armed.
  11. Re:Rei by ShanghaiBill · · Score: 2

    Other than coasting on other people's work, what has he actually managed to accomplish?

    Successful people delegate. Failing to leverage the work and expertise of others is the shortest path to entrepreneurial failure.

  12. Toddler mode by quenda · · Score: 4, Interesting

    It is really "toddler mode", they just can't call it that for legal reasons.

    On a related note, I know some parents who put their baby in the car and drove laps just to get the baby to sleep. Now they can stay home while the car does that!

  13. Evolution of the feature by steveha · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Using the Tesla mobile app, it has been possible for at least a couple years to leave the air conditioning on inside the car while leaving the car. I read about a Tesla owner who had a note taped to his car window: "This is a Tesla and its air conditioning is running. The dog is fine. Please don't break my window."

    More recently Tesla added a feature where you could use the touchscreen to do the same thing. In the climate controls dialog there is a button, "leave climate control running when car is stopped."

    Now the screen will be used to display a message telling people that the pets are fine, please don't break the window. Why not!

    This is one of those emergent features that nobody predicted years ago.

    Another one: Elon Musk wanted the Model 3 to have a clean look, so Tesla engineers wound up inventing a computer-controlled steerable air blower for the dashboard. You don't have to touch louvers to direct the air, you use a GUI on the touchscreen. This not only looks cleaner, but the computer remembers the air settings per driver, so if a husband and wife want different settings the car just handles it.

    One day someone on Twitter said "Hey Elon Musk, when I use the mobile app to turn on the air conditioning and cool down my Model 3 when it's been parked in the sun on a hot day, how about pointing the air blowers at the seats to cool them down?" And Elon Musk replied "Great idea, I'll make it happen." (Quotes paraphrased from memory.)

    --
    lf(1): it's like ls(1) but sorts filenames by extension, tersely
    1. Re:Evolution of the feature by jabuzz · · Score: 2

      Except the airflow in at least a Model S is really poor in the trunk, ot the point where even with the air con going your dog is going to at best have a very unpleasant time in the back, along with any kids in the optional trunk seats. See the Rich Rebuilds video on this.

      https://www.youtube.com/watch?...

  14. Re:Babies by atheos · · Score: 3, Funny

    Yes, so long as the baby barks.

  15. Re:Rei by Excelcia · · Score: 2

    I want EVs to succeed, and he's helped that..

    I want EV's to succeed as well, but as much as I respect SpaceX and some of Musk's other accomplishments, I don't see Tesla as furthering the progress of EV's. The poster who called them a dystopian surveillance vehicle wasn't wrong. Tesla knows where you are at all times. They can listen to you. They can push over the air updates to individual cars that you can't block or, potentially, even know about. Which means they can literally take over your vehicle at any time. This isn't tinfoil hat stuff. This is functionality they have publicly demonstrated. You aren't buying a car, you are paying them to give them your personal information and rent a ride.

    These vehicles are the surveillance state's wet dream.

  16. Forget Dog Mode by PeeAitchPee · · Score: 2

    Let me know when Tesla enables God Mode.

  17. Re:Rei by whoever57 · · Score: 2, Informative

    Please show us on the doll where Elon touched you.....

    --
    The real "Libtards" are the Libertarians!
  18. Re:Rei by micheas · · Score: 2

    Although to counterbalance if you brick your model 3 while preparing for own2p0wn they will reflash the car for you and have declared that you are not voiding your warranty, so, half a brownie point?

  19. Re:Rei by mentil · · Score: 2

    Expanding into space doesn't excuse the ones who remain on Earth from ruining it, or exempt them from doom.

    --
    Corruption is convincing someone that the selfless ideal is the same as their selfish ideal.
  20. Re:Dog overheating by mentil · · Score: 2

    I used liquid nitrogen on my dog. Now it seems to make a weird smell unless I reapply it regularly. It's a racket I tell you.

    --
    Corruption is convincing someone that the selfless ideal is the same as their selfish ideal.
  21. Re:Rei by stealth_finger · · Score: 3, Funny

    I don't care about you either. You are another moron on here. Space Nutter. Time to grow up.

    Pack up the show lads. This random twat on the internet doesn't care about it.

    --
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